Damn, Knit & Blast It

I’ve been doing more unknitting. Or frogging, or unravelling, or unpicking to give it a few other names (that’s just the polite ones).

This time I was unknitting Keats. I thought I’d show you a quicker way of actually unravelling the knitting….

All I did was start a section off then thread the end of the yarn onto my ball winder. I then folded the knitting into a bunch so I could hold the unravelling edge in my fist and wound furiously. The ball winder did all the pulling out for me - I have to say - it was strangely enjoyable!

I still had to wind the yarn from the ball into skeins on my swift. I did this by pulling the centre of the ball and winding it on to the swift and tying it like I showed you in my last post. If your winder doesn’t make centre pull balls you could always poke a needle through the centre to let the ball spin round freely.
I was just finishing off this stage and had a lovely collection of Skeins hung over the back of the chair like this …

…when Ben came in and said,

“Yum! you’ve knitted me Super Noodles!”

It transpired that, as a student, these were a major food group for him

I had to admit, there was a striking similarity! I tried to tempt him to eat them….

I just managed to rescue my yarn and wash, dry and reball it before he doused it in ketchup and devoured it…I’m not convinced that Pure Merino Wool would taste worse than Super Noodles!

There’s heaps of information out there on how to knit a garment but it occurred to me, I’ve not often seen how to unknit a jumper? Or “Frog” a garment to give it it’s official internet knitters’ accepted name. (Hence my post being called “Frog City“.)

For those who are not up on the latest internet lingo - it’s called frogging because you take the knitting off the needles and rip the yarn away repeatedly - this sounds like a frog i.e. “Rip it. Rip it”!!

If you unpick a stitch at a time, on the needles, that’s called Tinking. “Tink” is “Knit” backwards

So here you are - a quick guide to how I unknit a garment. It’s not supposed to be a definitive “best and only way” - just how I do it.

Firstly - deconstruct your garment. This is the reverse order to to making it! I say that because I always want to undo the seams then get stuck because some idiot has left a collar or a button band in the way So undo collars, button bands and general “finishing bits” first. Then you get to pull apart all those carefully worked mattress stitch seams you spent hours on - strangely, I find undoing the sewing more emotional than frogging the knitting !

You should end up with garment pieces ready to frog like this…

Next I need to introduce you to my swift! Normally used for holding a fresh new skein while I wind it into a ball, this time I use it to wind my yarn from garment to skein.

1. Tie end of yarn to swift
2. Rip out several meters of yarn onto the floor trying to make several small separate heaps so it doesn’t tangle. I’m doing it like this because the Rowan Ribbon Twist I’m frogging is quite “sticky” and fluffy in places. If the knitting frogs easily you can skip this stage.
3. Wind yarn onto swift by spinning it like a bicycle wheel with your left hand and guiding the yarn from the floor with your right hand.
4. Tie the skein loosely in at least four places to stop it tangling

It should look like this when done

You should be warned of a couple of potential hazards.

1. The yarn will want to tangle
2. You’ll create a huge amount of fluff and need to hoover when you’ve finished.
3. The process is irresistible to cats - even blind ones…

Once you have turned your jumper into skeins you’ll notice that they are made up of seriously crinkly yarn.

The next step is to give them a light wash to remove the crinkles (and any odours that may have crept in while wearing your garment!!)

I wash my skeins by hand, very gently in warm water and a “delicates” detergent, two rinses and fabric softener follow - all at the same temperature. only put one skein in the water at once - they will want to tangle together…if that happens , it’s a wet soggy nightmare

I now throw the whole lot into the washing machine for the fastest spin I can muster . I think this does less harm than the yarn laying around sopping wet and stretching under the weight of the water.

Give each skein a shake when it’s had it’s spin to separate the strands and hang up to dry - I find an “sock and undies” hanger useful…

Now it’s dry and looking more “yarn like”

From here I could either wind it up into a skein like you’d get from the shops…

Or put it back on my swift …

and use my trusty ball winder…

to make perfect little cakes of fresh clean and crinkle free yarn!

Not a bad afternoon’s playing and I got my yarn back from a garment I didn’t like!

Great excitement today!!

The postman arrived with a Special Delivery Parcel for me - but I can’t tell you what was in it!

I’ll explain.

I saw a plea from KnitOnTheNet for sample knitters to help with testing patterns and knitting samples for the republication of Jane Waller’s book A Stitch in Time. The book was originally published in the 1970s, featuring over 100 original knitting & crochet patterns from the 1920s through to the beginning of the 1950s.

I really value these online knitting magazines like KnitOnTheNet, Magknits and Knitty - full of free patterns, knit-news and technique advice -I have learnt heaps from them. I feel that we knitters should support them if we want to keep them! With that in mind, and too much free time on my hands I decided to offer my services.

There was a well thought out form to fill in asking about my knitting and crochet skills and what techniques I’d be happy with.

Then the big question - Regraded pattern knitting, Test knitting or Sample Knitting?

• Regraded pattern- you knit the pattern in your own yarn, keep the the garment but send details of amendments and problems back to KnitOnTheNet.
• Test Knitting - you do swatches in yarns and stitch patterns supplied
• Sample knitting - The pattern and yarn is supplied - the garment and pattern is returned to KnitOnTheNet to be used in exhibitions (and hopefully photos for the book!)

I chose the Sample Knitting!

Call me easily pleased but I was so flattered to be chosen as one of the knitters. I know they had a huge response.

Before you ask - No - I’m not being paid to do it. I will however get a mention in the book and a free copy once it’s published and the thrill of knowing my garment is out there being looked at at exhibitions (and I’ll probably be sad enough to go looking for it at exhibitions too!)

So back to my exciting parcel - what was in it? What am I knitting?

Unfortunately, this is all I can show you until the book is published!

It’s understandable that they don’t want their designs all over the web, stealing the thunder from the book. I will be able to show you once the book is out so rest assured. I’ll be taking photos!

What can I tell you?

• It’s a pattern from the 1930’s.
• It’s on fairly fine needles but nothing scary that I haven’t used normaly
• It’s a ladies garment
• It’s fabulous and if I’d seen it in a book I’d want to knit it.
• It’s in a pure natural fibre that’s a dream to work with and probably cost a king’s ransom!
• It’s in a colour I wouldn’t normally choose but I like it.
• I cast on the back within 10 mins of opening the parcel and am halfway to the armholes already

Damn - I’ve just given away another secret - It’s got armholes!

I’ve been reviewing my wardrobe. Kirsti made a good point on my second to last post that I really should send my old stuff to the charity shop - not the bin.

With this in mind I looked at the shelf where I keep most of my handknits - It’s a large shelf and very full! They were were definitely a few things that needed to go.

Do you remember Keats?

This is how it was supposed to look…(notice her hands holding the sides down )

Keats was the topic of my post “Arghh! I’ve broken my knitting!” in which I discovered I hadn’t done enough rows on the rib on the front - decided to cut and graft and got far more familiar with grating a complicated knit and purl pattern than I ever wanted to!

I haven’t worn Keats because every time I put it on, the waist looks decidedly odd. I’m not sure if it was my butchery and grafting or a “feature” of the design but I think you’ll agree - this is not a flattering look!

I swear, on my yarn stash, that is not me in those unsightly bulges - it’s all jumper!

The yarn, Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Aran, is too good to give or throw away so Keats is off to Frog City.

Another garment that will be visiting Frog City is my Judie Jacket.

This one…

It’s just too big, loose, shapeless and bulky. Now I’ve worn it a few times,to me it looks like an old frumpy jumper for slobbing around the house - and I look at least 10 years older than I am in that photo!! Not what I wanted from my precious Rowan Ribbon twist!

I’m sure I can do better with the yarn for both … not much for the charity shop but recycling is environmentally friendly isn’t it?

Not much exciting to tell you on the knitting front. I’m still knitting Hildegard and slogging up the front - One side done up to the shoulder and just starting the other side of the V neck….I’d forgotten what a time consuming pattern it was!

You can also see how the ball of silk just falls apart as you are working too - a bit annoying but it is because it’s silk - all silky soft and slippery

I’ve also had “Mother’s Day Duties” to perform. For a treat, Mum and I visited The Imperial War Museum - they had a fantastic exhibition called “The Children’s War” about the effect of WW2 on children in Britain. For Mum (who was a war baby) it was a huge nostalgia trip - I, of course, got excited by all the references to knitting!

I had to take a photo of this poster to show you all!

Surely there’s a sock yarn company out there who will want to use this??